John Gibson was in diapers when the Ducks played their first NHL game on Oct. 8, 1993. He was in goal Wednesday night at the Honda Center as they chased their second consecutive Pacific Division championship, and their third overall during their 20-year existence.

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau could have started veteran Jonas Hiller in the most important game of the regular season, but he decided the 20-year-old Gibson deserved a chance to face the San Jose Sharks after shutting out the Vancouver Canucks in his NHL debut Monday.

Boudreau’s third choice, 24-year-old rookie Frederik Andersen, wasn’t really a choice at all since Andersen suffered a head injury when he took a shot off his mask from Nashville defenseman Shea Weber in the Ducks’ loss last Friday to the Predators.

Then again, Boudreau didn’t wish to tip his hand after the morning skate at the Honda Center. Gibson exited the ice first, a near universal sign that he would start against the Sharks. Hiller and Andersen stayed on the ice to face extra shots.

“I’m not telling you,” Boudreau said later. “We’ll see tonight. I don’t know if he’s in.”

When the game began, Gibson stood opposite San Jose goalie Antti Niemi as the Ducks and Sharks faced off with the division title at stake. The Ducks needed a victory to clinch the division and avoid a first-round playoff series against the third-place Kings.

Gibson made Boudreau’s selection a little less jaw-dropping by stopping all 18 shots he faced from the Canucks in his first NHL game Monday in Vancouver. Gibson, who spent this season with the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate in Norfolk, Va., was calm, cool and collected.

“His calmness,” Boudreau said when asked what he liked most from Gibson, who became the youngest goalie in Ducks history and the first in franchise history to record a shutout in his debut for the club. “He didn’t seem to get rattled. His movement was really good.”

Masterton nominee

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin was the Ducks’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, an award given annual by the Professional Hockey Writers Association to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game of ice hockey.

Masterton died as the result of an on-ice injury Jan. 15, 1968.

Beauchemin returned from offseason knee surgery well ahead of schedule and in time for the opening of training camp. He suffered a torn ACL near the end of last season, but delayed surgery in order to play in the playoffs.

Fowler returns

Defenseman Cam Fowler returned to the Ducks’ lineup after sitting out 12 games because of a sprained left knee. His participation was a last-minute decision, but after he made it through the pregame skate without any setbacks, he rejoined the lineup.

Elliott Teaford is an award-winning hockey reporter based in Southern California who covered the L.A. Kings when they won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and in '14, and the Anaheim Ducks' Cup win in 2007. He grew up playing outdoors on the streets of Philadelphia. He also watched the Flyers bully their way to consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1970s, and makes no excuses for their quasi-legal play.

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